USA Today: COVID-19 Cases Rising In 39 States – 9 Months Into The Pandemic: 'We Are Overwhelmed'
U.S. coronavirus cases surpassed 7.5 million on Wednesday with most states seeing a rise in cases – nine months into the pandemic – and a startling nine states setting ominous, seven-day records for infections. A USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins data through late Tuesday shows Alaska, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming all set state records in the seven-day period. In all, 39 states reported more coronavirus cases in the last week than they had in the week before. (Bacon and Stucka, 10/7)

CNN: Only Two US States Report A Decline Of New Cases And Nationwide Hospitalizations Are Increasing
Covid-19 cases are trending upwards across the US, with only two states reporting a decline of cases compared to last week. And hospitalizations across the country have also begun to rise, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project. Wisconsin health officials reported a record-high number of 141 new patients Wednesday, days after the state saw records in new Covid-19 cases and deaths. Gov. Tony Evers announced Wednesday the state will open a field hospital in response to the surge in hospitalizations. (Maxouris, 10/8)

The Washington Post: In The U.S., States — Not Science — Decide What Counts As A Coronavirus Outbreak 
In Michigan, two coronavirus infections in the same workplace constitutes an outbreak. In New York City, public school buildings must close when two people in two different classrooms catch the virus. But Iowa will not announce coronavirus outbreaks at many businesses unless 10 percent of employees are actively infected, and even 10 percent of students becoming ill may not be enough to close a school. The nation’s patchwork pandemic response has led to wide disparities in data reporting and even in definitions for basic medical concepts. In the absence of federal standards, states have adopted divergent and sometimes scientifically questionable approaches to disease control, which experts say have allowed the virus to spread. (Mooney, Kaplan and Eilperin, 10/7)

The Hill: Fauci: As Many As 400,000 Americans Could Die From Coronavirus 
Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious diseases expert, said Tuesday that as many as 400,000 Americans could die from COVID-19 if action isn’t taken in the fall and winter. Fauci told attendees of a virtual event held by American University that between 300,000 and 400,000 could die from coronavirus in the country. (Coleman, 10/7)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Symptom-Free For 24 Hours, Says White House Doctor 
President Trump’s recovery from a Covid-19 infection continued to progress, the White House’s top doctor said Wednesday, even as key details about the president’s health and his potential return to the campaign trail remained unclear. Mr. Trump had gone 24 hours without any coronavirus symptoms, Dr. Sean Conley said in a memo released by the White House. The president hadn’t had a fever in four days, his oxygen saturation and respiratory rate were stable and in normal range, and blood work on Monday showed “detectable levels” of Covid-19 antibodies, Dr. Conley said. (Bender, 10/7)

The Hill: Trump Says He Feels 'Great' And Is Symptomless: White House Doctor 
President Trump reports feeling “great” and experiencing no symptoms less than six days after being diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, according to a memo from the White House physician issued Wednesday. “The President this morning says ‘I feel great!’ His physical exam and vital signs, including oxygen saturation and respiratory rate, all remain stable and in normal range,” White House physician Sean Conley wrote in the memo released Wednesday afternoon. (Chalfant, 10/7)

NBC News: Trump Asked Walter Reed Doctors To Sign Nondisclosure Agreements In 2019
President Donald Trump has required personnel at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to sign nondisclosure agreements before they could be involved with treating him, according to four people familiar with the process. During a surprise trip to Walter Reed on Nov. 16, 2019, Trump mandated signed NDAs from both physicians and nonmedical staff, most of whom are active-duty military service members, these people said. At least two doctors at Walter Reed who refused to sign the NDAs were subsequently not permitted to have any involvement in the president's care, two of the people said. (Lee and Kube, 10/8)

The Washington Post: Trump Returns To Oval Office As Aides Refuse To Say When He Last Tested Negative For Covid-19 
The White House again refused on Wednesday to say when President Trump last tested negative for the novel coronavirus, leaving open the possibility that he potentially exposed dozens of people to the deadly virus before the announcement of his positive test early Friday. Trump attended several events last week — including a presidential debate against Democratic nominee Joe Biden, a campaign rally and an in-person fundraiser — where he could have potentially exposed people to the coronavirus if he was infectious at that time. The disease has killed more than 210,000 Americans. (Olorunnipa, Dawsey and Parker, 10/7)

The Hill: Here's Why It Matters When Trump Last Tested Negative For COVID-19 
White House officials and the president's physician have refused to disclose when President Trump last tested negative for COVID-19, a key detail that has implications for how long the president could be infectious and who else he might have exposed to the highly contagious virus. The White House has said Trump's first positive test result came back Thursday. He is known to have shown symptoms Friday, including fatigue and fever, and required supplemental oxygen. But the timeline remains fuzzy beyond that. (Samuels, 10/7)

Politico: Trump Returns To A West Wing Ghost Town 
Wednesday had all the trappings of a typical day at the Trump White House. There was a morning flurry of all-caps tweets from President Donald Trump. From his residence, Trump cycled through his favorite subjects — he wanted his political opponents jailed, Democrats were ruining the balloting system, etc. Then, in the early afternoon, Trump descended to the Oval Office to get briefings on a brewing hurricane and congressional negotiations. ... Yet each of those developments was infused with the surreality of the moment. Trump’s tweet storm was not just seen as “Trump being Trump.” It caused some, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to wonder whether the steroids Trump took as part of his coronavirus treatment were fueling his all-caps tweetfest. (McGraw, 10/7)

In related news —

USA Today: Why The Russians May Know More About Trump's Health And COVID-19 Diagnosis Than The American Public
While the American public is relying on White House physician Sean Conley and other officials to disclose the latest information about Trump's health, the Kremlin may be listening in on private conversations between the president and his outside advisers, as well as conversations among his family members and even his doctors. And with several top Trump staffers working from home after contracting COVID-19 or being exposed to the virus, the White House's communications may be particularly vulnerable, said said Carol "Rollie" Flynn, a 30-year CIA veteran who is now president of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. "I would hope that ... the operational security of his doctors is good, and they're not chatting about his diagnosis on the telephones," Flynn said. "But if they are, it's very likely the Russian may know more than we do." (Shesgreen, 10/7)

AP: Analyzing Trump's Illness Is Humbling For Media's Med Teams
Here’s an assignment to humble even the most confident doctor: Assess a patient’s condition before millions of people without being able to examine him or see a complete medical chart. That, in effect, is what medical experts at news organizations have been asked to do since President Donald Trump revealed Friday that he had tested positive for COVID-19.They have a fine line to walk, needing to decide what level of speculation — if any — that they’re comfortable with, how much to read into medications the president has been prescribed and how to explain the course of a virus so new that it still confounds the people who study it. (Bauder, 10/8)

AP: Trump Hails Experimental Treatment For His Virus Recovery
President Donald Trump credited an experimental drug treatment with helping his recovery from COVID-19 and suggested his diagnosis could be a “blessing in disguise” in the nation’s battle against the pandemic. But there is no way for the president or his doctors to know whether the drug had any effect. In a new White House video posted Wednesday evening, Trump said his illness had shed light on an experimental antibody cocktail that he tied to his improved condition. Seemingly sensitive to the fact that his treatment course has been far more comprehensive than the care received by average Americans, he promised to swiftly get the drug approved for broader use — and distribute it for free — even though he does not have the power to order that himself. (Madhani, Colvin and Perrone, 10/8)

The New York Times: Trump Calls His Illness ‘A Blessing From God’ 
“I think this was a blessing from God that I caught it,” Mr. Trump said, apparently referring to the fact that he had learned about the benefits of the drug as a result of becoming ill. It was the first time that Mr. Trump tacitly acknowledged another appearance problem — that he has received the kind of intensive and costly medical care for coronavirus that is not available to any member of the general public. (Haberman and Thomas, 10/7)

CNN: Trump Returns To Oval Office, Breaking Isolation After His Hospitalization For Coronavirus 
The appearance, his first since returning from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, was taped Wednesday afternoon in the Rose Garden by White House staff. Trump seemed upbeat, but his voice still sounded breathless at points and he appeared to be wearing make-up. Parts of the video looked edited. (Liptak, 10/7)

Politico: Trump Claims His Covid Treatment Means A Cure Is Imminent
The president for months has also been promising that a coronavirus vaccine is imminent, often pledging to make it available by Election Day. Late stage clinical trials are underway, but no vaccine-maker has yet sought emergency authorization or approval from the Food and Drug Administration. On Tuesday, the FDA released stricter new vaccine guidelines that make it unlikely a shot will arrive by Nov. 3. Now Trump is promoting the experimental antibody drugs as cures, with his most effusive praise reserved for the drug made by Regeneron. The company’s CEO is a member of Trump's Westchester, N.Y., golf club. (Morello, 10/7)

In related news —

The Washington Post: Covid-19 Survivors See Callousness, Not Compassion, In Trump’s Bout With The Virus 
Rather than bond Trump to the millions of Americans who have suffered from the virus or watched a loved one go through it, Trump’s experience with the virus has only deepened the sense of distance that some voters say they feel from a president who has consistently downplayed its severity. In interviews, Americans whose lives have been upended by the virus said they felt disappointed that the president missed an opportunity to model responsible behavior. They expressed anger that Trump has continued to minimize the virus’s threat after receiving deluxe care that the vast majority of people can only dream of at a time when testing and treatments are running low. And they voiced fear that Trump’s words and actions would lead to more reckless behavior among his supporters. (Witte, 10/7)

CBS News: Trump Told Americans To Not Let COVID-19 "Dominate" Their Lives. Here's What Victims' Families Have To Say. 
More than 3,100 Americans have died from COVID-19 in the five days since President Trump revealed his positive diagnosis, yet the president has continued to downplay the coronavirus threat. His comments, after being hospitalized and given experimental treatments not widely available to the public, have prompted many Americans whose loved ones did not have access to the same care as the president to express anger and resentment over his message. "I just felt really disrespected and unheard," two-time Olympian Kara Goucher told CBS News' David Begnaud. (10/7)

USA Today: American Lung Association Works To Dispel Misinformation
The rash of coronavirus infections emanating from the White House, followed by President Donald Trump’s tweeted advice to the nation – “Don’t be afraid of Covid’’ – prompted the American Lung Association on Wednesday to issue guidance for those confronting the disease in hopes of dispelling misinformation. ... The ALA recommendations mostly reiterate guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but they come at a time of increased skepticism about the government’s instructions regarding the virus and fatigue about restrictions. (Ortiz, 10/7)

The Washington Post: Trump’s Resistance To Face Masks, Even While Infected With Coronavirus, Sets Him Apart From Other World Leaders 
Among world leaders, President Trump is increasingly isolated on the issue of face masks. After he cast doubt for months on masks’ efficacy in slowing the spread of the novel coronavirus, his resistance to White House precautions even after contracting the virus seemed to forestall the possibility of an about-face. While many world leaders have supported the use of face masks and have chosen to wear them during public appearances — despite, in some cases, earlier reluctance of their own — Trump has delivered mixed, sometimes contradictory guidance, and has often appeared without a mask, donning one in public for the first time in July. (Noack, 10/7)

USA Today: White House Coronavirus Outbreak May Have Exposed Thousands
President Donald Trump and other White House insiders infected with COVID-19 carried the virus across the country in a matter of days, potentially exposing hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people as they went about their business, a USA TODAY investigation found. From a religious summit outside Atlanta to a campaign rally at a Pennsylvania airport and a private fundraiser in Minnesota, Trump, his aides and political allies attended events with thousands of people, often without masks and little regard for social distancing. (Salman and Voyles Pulver, 10/7)

ABC News: 34 People Connected To White House, More Than Previously Known, Infected By Coronavirus: Internal FEMA Memo
The coronavirus outbreak has infected "34 White House staffers and other contacts" in recent days, according to an internal government memo, an indication that the disease has spread among more people than previously known in the seat of American government. Dated Wednesday and obtained by ABC News, the memo was distributed among senior leadership at FEMA, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security and the agency responsible for managing the continuing national response to the public health disaster. (Margolin and Bruggeman, 10/7)

The Hill: No. 2 Marine General Tests Positive For COVID-19 
The Marine Corps announced Wednesday that its assistant commandant tested positive for COVID-19, days after most of the military's top officials began quarantining following possible exposure to the virus. The Marine Corps reported Gen. Gary Thomas's diagnosis in a press release Wednesday, adding that he had been in quarantine after being notified that he had come into contact with the Coast Guard’s vice commandant, Adm. Charles Ray, who tested positive for the coronavirus on Monday after feeling mild symptoms over the weekend. (Castronuovo, 10/7)

Bloomberg: White House Security Official Contracted Covid-19 In September
A top White House security official, Crede Bailey, is gravely ill with Covid-19 and has been hospitalized since September, according to four people familiar with his condition. The White House has not publicly disclosed Bailey’s illness. He became sick before the Sept. 26 Rose Garden event President Donald Trump held to announce his Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett that has been connected to more than a dozen cases of the disease. (Jackson, 10/7)

Also —

The Hill: COVID-19 Sparks National Security Concerns With Top Brass In Quarantine 
The quarantining of most of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, coming on the heels of President Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis, is raising fears that U.S. adversaries might seek to exploit a perceived weakness. Few expect any sort of overt military action, but there are other ways to wreak havoc on the United States. Chief among them is disinformation. Experts have been warning ever since Trump tested positive for the coronavirus last week that disinformation is likely to kick into overdrive. (Kheel, 10/7)

The Washington Post: Genetic Tracing Could Show How Coronavirus Spread Through White House
There’s a way for the White House to prove exactly how the outbreak traveled among its ranks: through gene-based contact tracing. But it doesn’t appear interested in doing so — even as the circle of President Trump's associates infected with the virus expands by the hour. The Trump administration could, if it chose, search samples taken from dozens of White House staff members and visitors for tiny genetic variants. Because the virus undergoes slight changes as it moves from person to person, it’s possible to map where it has moved by looking for similarities in mutations. (Cunningham and Ellerbeck, 10/7)

The New York Times: BuzzFeed News Pulls Reporter From White House, Citing Virus Risk 
BuzzFeed News has pulled a political correspondent from the White House press pool, citing concerns that the area has become a coronavirus hot zone after President Trump, many of his top aides — including the press secretary Kayleigh McEnany — and several journalists have tested positive for the virus. A BuzzFeed News spokesman, Matt Mittenthal, confirmed that the company on Tuesday had withdrawn the correspondent, Kadia Goba, from her Wednesday shift out of concern for her safety. The spokesman added that BuzzFeed News was awaiting further guidance from the White House Correspondents’ Association. (Robertson, 10/7)

The New York Times: Notre Dame’s President Faces An Angry Campus After Getting The Coronavirus 
As college leaders deliberated whether to bring students back to campus, none led the charge for reopening more forcefully than the president of the University of Notre Dame. ... But all the humility in the world might not have spared The Rev. John I. Jenkins, the university’s president and a 66-year-old Catholic priest, from the storm of protest he now faces over the latest news from South Bend: that he not only violated his own health rules — appearing without a mask at a White House reception last month for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a Supreme Court nominee and former Notre Dame Law School professor — but also is infected with the coronavirus himself. (Gray and Hubler, 10/7)

CNN: Regeneron Asks FDA For Emergency Authorization Of Its Covid-19 Antibody Therapy That Was Given To Trump Last Week 
Regeneron says it has applied to the US Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization for its experimental monoclonal antibody therapy, the same antibody cocktail given to President Donald Trump Friday after he was diagnosed with the virus. The biotechnology company confirmed it had submitted the application for the authorization in a statement on its website Wednesday night. (Erdman, 10/8)

The New York Times: Regeneron Asks F.D.A. For Emergency Approval For Drug That Trump Claimed Cured Him 
The news of Regeneron’s application on the same day that Mr. Trump effusively praised the unproven drug is likely to intensify fears that the president is pressuring federal health agencies to make decisions aimed at benefiting him politically. In the video, Mr. Trump repeated his desire to get a vaccine approved before the election, even though the vaccine makers themselves have said that is highly unlikely. (Thomas, 10/7)

CNBC: Regeneron Requests EUA From The FDA For Coronavirus Treatment
The biotech company published a statement Wednesday noting that “if an EUA is granted the  government has committed to making these doses available to the American people at no cost and would be responsible for their distribution.” At this time, there are doses available for approximately 50,000 patients, Regeneron said, “and we expect to have doses available for 300,000 patients in total within the next few months.” (Ellyatt, 10/8)

Also —

Reuters: Regeneron Antibodies In Demand After Trump Treatment, Doctors Seek More Data
Patients are asking to join clinical trials of antibody-based COVID-19 drugs after U.S. President Donald Trump was treated last week with an experimental therapy from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc, and on Wednesday he promised to make it free to Americans while touting its benefits. Medical experts said more data is needed to assess the treatment’s efficacy before wider use should be allowed. (Beasley, 10/7)

MIT Technology Review: Trump’s Antibody Treatment Was Tested Using Cells Originally Derived From An Abortion
This week, President Donald Trump extolled the cutting-edge coronavirus treatments he received as “miracles coming down from God.” If that’s true, then God employs cell lines derived from human fetal tissue. The emergency antibody that Trump received last week was developed with the use of a cell line originally derived from abortion tissue, according to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, the company that developed the experimental drug. (Regalado, 10/7)

Stat: Regeneron, And The Pugnacious Pair Who Run It, Take Center Stage
On Friday morning, President Trump received an experimental treatment for Covid-19 developed by Regeneron. At the time, it had only been provided to fewer than 10 patients outside of clinical trials, under  so-called compassionate use. Data for the drug had been presented for the first time earlier that week on a company conference call. It was, to put it mildly, an unusual situation. (Herper, 10/8)

The Hill: Eli Lilly Asks For Emergency Authorization Of COVID-19 Antibody Treatment 
The pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly said Wednesday it has requested emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an antibody treatment for the coronavirus. The company said it had submitted an initial request to the FDA for its antibody treatment, which was derived from a blood sample of a patient who recovered from the coronavirus. The treatment essentially injects a manufactured version of one of the body’s tools for fighting the virus into patients. (Sullivan, 10/7)

Stat: Eli Lilly Says Its Monoclonal Antibody Cocktail Is Effective Against Covid-19
Eli Lilly said Wednesday a monoclonal antibody treatment is effective in reducing levels of the virus that causes Covid-19 in patients, and also appears to prevent patients from visiting the emergency room or hospital. Lilly had previously released results for a similar treatment using one antibody, which experts viewed as promising. But the new results, of a combination of two antibodies, appear, based on limited data provided in a press release, to be more robust. (Herper, 10/7)

In updates on remdesivir —

USA Today: Trump, COVID Questions: How Expensive Is Remdesivir? Is He Contagious?
For remdesivir, private insurance companies will pay $520 per vial or $3,120 for a five-day course of treatment, while the company will charge the U.S. government $390 per vial, or $2,340 per patient. As for REGN-COV2, prices aren't set for drugs until they're approved by the FDA. But monoclonal antibodies are usually extremely expensive. Cancer-related monoclonal antibodies often cost nearly $100,000 a year, according to one 2018 study. For COVID-19, monoclonal antibodies are expected to be orders of magnitude cheaper, likely on the order of a few thousand dollars for a single-dose regimen. (Hauck, 10/7)

Reuters: EU Signs Joint Procurement Contract For Remdesivir Supply 
The European Commission said on Thursday it had signed a contract with U.S. drugmaker Gilead GILD.O for the supply of up to 500,000 treatment courses for remdesivir, sharply increasing the supply of the COVID-19 treatment in Europe. The Commission, which has overseen joint purchases of vaccines in the European Union, said there were 37 signatories to the agreement, including all EU countries, six Balkan candidate and potential EU members, Britain and the other European Economic Area countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. (10/8)

AP: Pence, Harris Spar Over COVID-19 In Vice Presidential Debate
Trading barbs through plexiglass shields, Republican Mike Pence and Democrat Kamala Harris turned the only vice presidential debate of 2020 into a dissection of the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, with Harris labeling it “the greatest failure of any presidential administration.” Pence, who leads the president’s coronavirus task force, acknowledged that “our nation’s gone through a very challenging time this year,” yet vigorously defended the administration’s overall response to a pandemic that has killed 210,000 Americans. (Peoples, Ronayne, Price and Colvin, 10/8)

Politico: Harris And Pence Return To The Jab And Move Debate 
The most effective line of attack Democrats have against Trump is his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and Harris bludgeoned Pence for the White House’s halting and at-times chaotic response to the virus. To Harris, it is "the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country.” To Pence, it was an early intervention that saved lives. (Siders, 10/7)

USA Today: VP Debate: What You Missed In The Mike Pence, Kamala Harris Faceoff
Pence defended the administration’s refusal to follow CDC guidelines, such as wearing masks and staying six feet apart, most notably at the Sept. 26 White House event unveiling Trump’s Supreme Court pick, Amy Coney Barrett. ... Asked how the American people could be expected to follow the federal guidelines if the White House doesn’t, Pence pivoted away from the issue to suggest a Biden-Harris administration would lead to overreach in tackling the crisis. “That Rose Garden event, there’s been a great deal of speculation about it,” Pence said, asserting that many people who attended were tested beforehand. (Shesgreen, Bailey and Bohan, 10/8)

The Washington Post: 4 Takeaways From The Vice Presidential Debate
[Mike Pence] pointed to the swine flu pandemic that occurred during the Obama-Biden administration in 2009. “Thankfully, it was ended up not being as lethal as the coronavirus,” Pence said. “But before the end of the year, when Joe Biden was vice president of the United States, not seven and a half million people contracted the swine flu; 60 million Americans contracted the swine flu. If the swine flu had been as lethal as the coronavirus in 2009 when Joe Biden was vice president, we would have lost 2 million American lives.” The first problem with that is that the 60 million swine flu infections is based on estimates, while the current coronavirus case count is based on actual tests. The bigger problem is that if the swine flu were anywhere near as deadly as the novel coronavirus, mitigation would certainly have been much stricter, much earlier. (Blake, 10/7)

KHN and PolitiFact: In Debate, Pence And Harris Offer Conflicting Views Of Nation’s Reality 
The Trump administration’s pandemic response: decisive action that saved lives, or the greatest failure of any presidential administration? During Wednesday’s vice presidential debate, Vice President Mike Pence and the Democratic challenger, Sen. Kamala Harris of California, offered drastically different takes — from behind  plexiglass screens — on how the president has handled the COVID-19 crisis. Pence touted problematic claims, such as that President Donald Trump’s ban on travel from China helped the nation respond to the coronavirus (PolitiFact rated a similar claim “False”) and that the country would have a vaccine in less than a year (the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a vaccine, yet to be approved, will not be widely available until next year). (10/8)

On the subject of a COVID vaccine —

NPR: Pence Promises Millions Of Vaccine Doses Before 2021. Is That Realistic?
Moncef Slaoui, chief adviser to Operation Warp Speed — the administration’s initiative to fast-track treatment — told scientists and journalists during a webinar on Tuesday that an early assessment of the efficacy of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines (the two furthest along in testing) could come within the next several weeks, meaning in November or December. “We are in the process of stockpiling vaccine doses in the single-digit million doses in the month of October, November, and then in the tens of millions of doses in November,” Slaoui said. (10/7)

NPR: Harris Would Be ‘First in Line’ For A Vaccine Approved By Scientists, Not The White House
Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris said she would be “first in line” to take a coronavirus vaccine if it had widespread approval from the scientific community. But Harris maintained that President Trump’s handling of the virus made her wary to trust any presidential endorsement of a vaccine. “If the public health professionals, if Dr. [Anthony] Fauci, if the doctors tell us to take it, I’ll be the first in line to take it. But if Donald Trump tells us to take it, I’m not taking it,” Harris quipped when asked whether she would trust a vaccine approved under the Trump administration. (10/7)

Also —

Newsweek: Karen Pence Criticized For Joining Debate Stage Without Mask Despite Rules Mandating Use In Venue
Second lady Karen Pence appeared alongside her husband Vice President Mike Pence at the end of Wednesday's vice-presidential debate in Salt Lake City, Utah without a face mask. Wearing a face mask was a condition of attending the debate. Co-chair of the Commission for Presidential Debates Frank Fahrenkopf reminded attendees to keep their face masks on during the debate. (Martin, 10/8)

Fox News: Trump Says He Will 'Not Waste My Time' With A 'Virtual Debate' After CPD Announces Changes
President Trump, in his first interview since his positive coronavirus test, told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo on Thursday that he will not participate in the next debate, just minutes after the Commission on Presidential Debates announced the showdown, slated for Oct. 15, will be virtual. The CPD announced early Tuesday that "the second presidential debate will take the form of a town meeting, in which the candidates would participate from separate remote locations." (Singman, 10/8)

AP: Trump Vows Not To Participate In Virtual Debate With Biden
The announcement from the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates cited a need “to protect the health and safety of all involved with the second presidential debate.” The candidates will “participate from separate remote locations” while the participants and moderator remain in Miami, it said. The announcement came a week before Biden and Trump were scheduled to face off in Miami. (Miller, 10/8)

CNBC: Trump Refuses To Participate In Virtual Debate On Oct. 15: 'I'm Not Going To Waste My Time'
Trump and his allies quickly claimed, without evidence, that the commission made the change to favor Biden. A Biden campaign source told NBC News that the debate commission made the decision unilaterally. The commission’s decision came six days after Trump announced that he and first lady Melania Trump had tested positive for the coronavirus. ... Biden said earlier this week that he thought the debate shouldn’t go on if the president was still infected with the coronavirus. (Wilkie, 10/8)

NBC News: Trump, Battling Covid-19, Says He Won't 'Waste His Time' Taking Part In A Virtual Debate
Biden's campaign responded to the announcement with an indication that Biden has no such qualms. "Vice President Biden looks forward to speaking directly to the American people and comparing his plan for bringing the country together and building back better with Donald Trump's failed leadership on the coronavirus that has thrown the strong economy he inherited into the worst downturn since the Great Depression," deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said. (Smith, 10/8)

The New York Times: In A First, New England Journal Of Medicine Joins Never-Trumpers 
Throughout its 208-year history, The New England Journal of Medicine has remained staunchly nonpartisan. The world’s most prestigious medical journal has never supported or condemned a political candidate. Until now. In an editorial signed by 34 editors who are United States citizens (one editor is not) and published on Wednesday, the journal said the Trump administration had responded so poorly to the coronavirus pandemic that they “have taken a crisis and turned it into a tragedy.” The journal did not explicitly endorse Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Democratic nominee, but that was the only possible inference, other scientists noted. (Kolata, 10/7)

USA Today: New England Journal Of Medicine Writes Historic Trump COVID-19 Editorial
According to Dr. Eric Rubin, editor-in-chief of the medical journal, the blistering editorial is one of only four in the publication’s history that has been signed by all editors. The journal did not explicitly endorse Democratic nominee Joe Biden. The journal's editors joined those at the Scientific American by breaking precedent and wading into politics. The Scientific American earlier announced its endorsement of Biden, the first time the magazine has endorsed a presidential candidate in its history. (Behrmann, 10/7)

New England Journal of Medicine: Dying In A Leadership Vacuum 
Anyone else who recklessly squandered lives and money in this way would be suffering legal consequences. Our leaders have largely claimed immunity for their actions. But this election gives us the power to render judgment. Reasonable people will certainly disagree about the many political positions taken by candidates. But truth is neither liberal nor conservative. When it comes to the response to the largest public health crisis of our time, our current political leaders have demonstrated that they are dangerously incompetent. We should not abet them and enable the deaths of thousands more Americans by allowing them to keep their jobs. (10/8)

The Hill: Biden Campaign To Restart Negative Ads After Trump Discharged From Hospital 
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's campaign plans to resume running negative digital and television advertisements against President Trump as he recovers from COVID-19, a person familiar with the plans confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday. The move, first reported by Bloomberg in the late afternoon Wednesday, comes after the Biden campaign decided to take down all negative advertisements Friday following news of the president’s and first lady Melania Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis. (Castronuovo, 10/7)

Newsweek: New Trump Campaign Facebook Ads Appear To Use Filter To Make Biden Look Older
Facebook advertising from Donald Trump's 2020 reelection campaign appears to be once again using edited images of Joe Biden. With the president tweeting from the White House after testing positive for COVID-19, a new wave of political ads show his opponent with unflattering facial expressions and a skin tone seemingly edited to make it appear discolored, older or unhealthy. (Murdock, 10/7)

Reuters: Despite COVID-19 Treatment, Trump Edges Back Into Campaign Spotlight 
President Donald Trump, still confined to the White House where he is being treated for COVID-19, planned more steps on Thursday to try to reinvigorate a re-election campaign hit hard by his handling of the pandemic. Trump is scheduled to appear in his first TV interview since revealing last Friday he had contracted COVID-19. Fox Business Network said the interview would air on Thursday after 8 a.m. (1200 GMT). (Mason and Holland, 10/8)

Yahoo News: Trump Campaign Official Suggests Biden Not Contracting COVID-19 Is A Weakness 
During a segment on Fox News on Monday, Trump campaign communications director Erin Perrine said President Trump battling coronavirus is among a set of attributes that former Vice President Joe Biden doesn’t have. (10/5)

Politico: Barrett Speaks With Key Senate Dems Amid Calls To Delay Her Hearing 
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee spoke by phone Wednesday to Judge Amy Coney Barrett, despite their widespread opposition to confirming her to the Supreme Court. ... In statements and interviews Wednesday, Senate Democrats continued to express concern about the confirmation process for Barrett and pressed the nominee on her views on the Affordable Care Act, Roe v. Wade, and other key issues. (Levine, 10/7)

The Washington Post: In Call With Democratic Senator, Barrett Declines To Discuss How She Might Rule On Health-Care Law 
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett told a Democratic senator Wednesday that she believes key cases upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act are precedent, but she did not say whether she believes the health-care decisions should be reconsidered. (Min Kim, 10/7)

The New York Times: Barrett Refused To Divulge Her Legal Views On Health Care And Abortion Rights On A Call, Coons Says
Senator Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware, said that Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, repeatedly declined during a phone call on Wednesday to share her views of legal issues around abortion rights or the Affordable Care Act, citing the need to maintain impartiality on the bench. The conversation described by Mr. Coons, one of at least eight Democrats who have met with or spoken to Judge Barrett since her nomination, likely offers a preview of how she will approach multiple days of public confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee next week. Like other court nominees, she plans to refrain from any testimony that could tip her hand one way or another on hotly contested issues. (Fandos, 10/7)

Stat: FDA Formally Warns Mask Decontamination Device Maker Touted By Trump
The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday formally chastised a mask decontamination device company once touted by President Trump for skirting rules about safety monitoring. It said the Ohio-based Battelle Memorial Institute, which makes a system to decontaminate the protective masks worn by health care workers, did not have adequate procedures in place for identifying adverse events, like allergic reactions. (Florko, 10/7)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Months Into Pandemic, PPE Shortage Persists
Back in March as the pandemic took hold, Atlanta pediatrician Joy Maxey’s two-year supply of high-filtering N95s masks was gone in weeks. Other critically needed equipment was quickly depleted, too. She couldn’t just pick up the phone and order more; her regular vendors didn’t have it. She had to spend hours daily trying to find the precious gear. Now, seven months after Georgia confirmed its first coronavirus cases, Dr. Maxey is still spending triple the time she used to getting her office enough protective equipment. (Oliviero and Hart, 10/7)

In news about health care workers —

San Francisco Chronicle: Thousands Of East Bay Health Care Workers Launch Strike, Protesting Patient Safety, Poor Conditions 
More than 3,000 nurses and health care workers began a weeklong strike at East Bay hospitals Wednesday to protest what they characterized as unsafe working conditions, mismanagement and persistent short staffing. The strike is targeting the Alameda Health System, a government agency that operates the county’s public hospitals, which largely serve minority communities. (Mishanec, 10/7)

KHN and The Guardian: Young Doctor Succumbs To COVID, One Of The South’s Many Health Workers Lost 
It took Carrie Wanamaker several days to connect the face she saw on GoFundMe with the young woman she had met a few years before. According to the fundraising site, Adeline Fagan, a 28-year-old resident OB-GYN, had developed a debilitating case of COVID-19 and was on a ventilator in Houston. Scrolling through her phone, Wanamaker found the picture she took of Fagan in 2018, showing the fourth-year medical student at her side in the delivery room, beaming at Wanamaker’s pink, crying, minutes-old daughter. Fagan supported Wanamaker’s leg through the birth because the epidural paralyzed her below the waist, and they joked and laughed since Wanamaker felt loopy from the anesthesia. (Gee, 10/8)

Modern Healthcare: Surgeon General Calls On Docs To Prioritize Controlling Patients' Hypertension
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams is calling on healthcare providers to improve how they help patients manage their blood pressure, as uncontrolled hypertension becomes more prevalent in American adults. The nation's top doctor called for a coordinated, multi-faceted response from public health officials, clinical medicine, insurers, community organizations and others to better control hypertension. The effort is a "national public health priority," he said. (Johnson, 10/7)

Boston Globe: Hanover Paramedics Make House Calls To Test Resident For Coronavirus 
Paramedics from the Hanover Fire Department are making house calls to local residents who want to be tested for COVID-19, with the nose swabs going to South Shore Health in Weymouth for analysis as part of a cooperative program between the hospital system and the town. Since April, more than 100 Hanover residents have been tested for free in their homes, according to South Shore Health spokeswoman Susan Griffin. (Seltz, 10/7)

And a closer look at HIPAA —

KHN and Politifact: Does The Federal Health Information Privacy Law Protect President Trump? 
Within one day, President Donald Trump announced his COVID diagnosis and was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for treatment. The flurry of events was stunning, confusing and triggered many questions. What was his prognosis? When was he last tested for COVID-19? What is his viral load? The answers were elusive. Picture the scene on Oct. 5. White House physician Dr. Sean Conley, flanked by other members of Trump’s medical team, met with reporters outside the hospital. But Conley would not disclose the results of the president’s lung scans and other vital information, invoking a federal law he said allows him to selectively provide intel on the president’s health. (Appleby and Knight, 10/7)

Newsweek: Healthcare Billionaires Got Nearly $150B Richer Due To COVID Pandemic
Healthcare billionaires have seen their wealth soar since the coronavirus swept the globe. Billionaires in the healthcare space bumped up their wealth by 36.3 percent between April 7 and July 31, from a total of $402.3 billion to $548 billion, according to a new report by wealth managers UBS and professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. The study looked at the wealth of 2,189 billionaires across the world. The near-$150 billion premium came as demands for key vaccines, medical equipment and treatments increased, with health services across the world left reeling due to ballooning case numbers. (Harley-McKeown, 10/7)

In other news from the health care industry —

Modern Healthcare: Cigna Becomes Third Major Payer To Restrict MRIs, CT Scans At Hospitals
Soon after Cigna Corp. waived prior authorization requirements and eased coverage rules to ensure patients could receive needed care during the coronavirus pandemic, the health insurer tightened restrictions in other areas. In August, the nation's fourth largest insurer by membership became the third major payer to restrict coverage for most advanced imaging, such as MRIs and CT scans, when performed in a hospital-based department or facility, except in limited circumstances. (Livingston, 10/7)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Companies Cashing In On Financing Vehicle Boom
Despite all its bad news, 2020 has been a good year for burgeoning healthcare companies that have capitalized on the meteoric rise of shell companies pouring billions of dollars into taking them public. This year's market uncertainty, among other factors, has prompted an explosion in initial public offerings among so-called special purpose acquisition corporations, companies that raise money through IPOs and, within two years, spend that money acquiring other companies and taking them public. In the third quarter of 2020 alone, 114 SPACs filed IPOs worth a cumulative $37 billion, compared with eight IPOs worth roughly $2 billion in the prior-year period, according to an RSM analysis of Bloomberg data. (Bannow, 10/7)

Modern Healthcare: 8 Of 10 Biggest September-Reported Breaches Stemmed From Blackbaud
Eight of the 10 largest healthcare data breaches reported to the federal government last month stemmed from a ransomware attack at a third-party software vendor, Blackbaud. The two data breaches that weren't tied to the cyberattack at Blackbaud—at the Baton Rouge (La.) Clinic and University of Missouri Health Care—both involved hackers. (Cohen, 10/7)

Billings Gazette: Billings Health System Walks Back Red, 'Critical' Designation For Hospital Resources 
On Monday, health care system capacity in Yellowstone County elevated to red status on the county’s COVID-19 dashboard on RiverStone Health’s website. By Tuesday, the indicator was dialed back to yellow status. The dashboard provides a snapshot to the public of how the county is handling the novel coronavirus. Yellowstone County Public Health Officer John Felton expressed his concerns Monday saying COVID-19 has put a strain on Billings’ hospitals as cases in the county continued to surge to record highs. (Hall, 10/7)

Dallas Morning News: Blue Cross Blue Shield Of Texas Vows To Give Back $213 Million Through Refunds, Lower Rates
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, the state’s largest health insurer, plans to give back $104 million to employers in the form of premium credits and reduce its rates by $109 million next year. Despite a worldwide health crisis from the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer people are visiting doctors' offices and surgical centers because of the risk of contracting the coronavirus. But that’s been offset, at least partially, by the high costs of care for COVID-19, which has now infected more than 7.4 million people in the U.S, including nearly 800,000 in Texas. (Arnold, 10/7)

KHN: Moved By Plight Of Young Heart Patient, Stranger Pays His Hospital Bill 
Even with insurance, Matthew Fentress faced a medical bill of more than $10,000 after a heart operation. A cook at a senior living community in Kentucky, he figured he could never pay what he owed — until a stranger who lives 2,000 miles away stepped in to help. “The system still failed me,” said Fentress, 31. “It was humanity that stepped up.” (Ungar, 10/8)

CBS News: Apple's New Mask-Wearing Emoji Will Be Smiling, Not Frowning 
Apple is giving its mask-wearing emoji an update: The keyboard character donning a medical face mask will be smiling under the face covering rather than frowning, according to the Emojipedia blog.  Apple is rolling out the new emoji as part of the latest update to its operating system. The iOS 14.2 software, which was released to developers last week, is expected to be released publicly this month. (Cerullo, 10/7)

The Washington Post: SNL Drops Morgan Wallen As Musical Guest After Viral Videos Of Him Partying Without A Mask 
Country music star Morgan Wallen was dropped by “Saturday Night Live” as this week’s musical guest, the singer announced on his Instagram account Wednesday evening. Wallen drew backlash after TikTok videos were posted in which he was partying without a mask at the University of Alabama days before. (Yahr, 10/7)

NPR: A Vaccine That Protects Against COVID-19 May Be Right Under Our Noses 
In case you were still procrastinating getting a flu shot this year, here's another reason to make it a priority. There's a chance the vaccine could offer some protection against COVID-19 itself, says virologist Robert Gallo, who directs the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and is chairman of the Global Virus Network. The key is getting the right flu vaccine, says Gallo, who was one of the main scientists credited with discovering HIV. "The vaccine has to have a live virus in it. The virus is attenuated so it doesn't cause disease, but otherwise the virus is alive." (Doucleff, 10/8)

CNN: Teen Mental Health: How To Support Your Child In A Pandemic 
Less than a month into the academic year at Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix, Alex, a 17-year-old high school senior, is feeling the strain of life in an uncertain time. Growing up, he saw tests, grades and applications as part of a predictable, step-by-step process leading toward college. Not so much in a pandemic. (Smith, 10/8)

KHN: Hard Lives Made Harder By COVID: Homeless Endure A ‘Slow-Moving Train Wreck’ 
The message wasn’t lost on Daniel Gonzalez. Early in the pandemic, one of the first things Imperial County did to ward off the virus was close the public bathrooms and, later, public cooling centers. In this sprawling Southern California desert, where summer brings blistering triple-digit heat, that lack of access could amount to a death sentence for people without shelter. People like Gonzalez, homeless the past two years, were simply not a priority. (Barry-Jester and Hart, 10/8)

Also —

USA Today: Jacob Blake, Shot By Kenosha Officer, Moved To Chicago Rehab Center
Jacob Blake, whose shooting by a Kenosha police officer led to unrest in the city and sparked protests around the nation, has left the Wisconsin hospital where he'd been recovering and moved to a spinal cord injury rehabilitation center in Chicago. Attorney Patrick Cafferty, who represents Blake on potential criminal charges, said he had no other details about Blake's condition. (Vielmetti, 10/7)

The Hill: Wisconsin Activates Field Hospital Amid COVID-19 Surge 
Wisconsin health officials will activate a field hospital located at the state's fairgrounds in order to help relieve the strain on medical facilities overwhelmed by a massive influx of COVID-19 patients. Gov. Tony Evers (D) on Wednesday said the 530-bed facility at Wisconsin State Fair Park near Milwaukee will begin accepting coronavirus patients within the next week. (Weixel, 10/7)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 'Dangerous': Wisconsin Reports 2,300 Cases, 16 Deaths Wednesday
Wisconsin's coronavirus crisis is dire and is going to get worse before it improves, state health officials said Wednesday. The warnings were paired with the announcement of an alternate care facility set to open next week at State Fair Park in West Allis, intended to help free up beds at hospitals inundated with coronavirus patients."Our state is in a dangerous place," state Health Services Secretary-designee Andrea Palm said. "We are overwhelming our health care system." (Carson, 10/7)

In news from the West —

The New York Times: Nursing Homes In Nevada Told To Stop Using Rapid Coronavirus Tests 
The coronavirus tests kits are small and fast — they produce results in as a little as 15 minutes — and when they were first distributed to nursing homes around the country in August by the federal government, they were welcomed with open arms. ... But now Nevada has ordered its nursing facilities to immediately suspend the use of two of the rapid virus tests after their performance was found to be lacking, according to a directive issued by the state’s department of health. (10/8)

AP: COVID-19 Outbreak Kills 9 At California Nursing Facility
A coronavirus outbreak at a skilled nursing facility on California’s central coast has killed nine people and infected more than 60 residents and staff, health officials said Wednesday. The outbreak at the Watsonville Post Acute Center in Santa Cruz County comes as the rates of new COVID-19 cases fall in that county and in California as a whole. (10/8)

AP: California Evangelical School Tells Students To Quarantine
An evangelical college in Northern California said Wednesday it has asked its entire 1,600-student body to self-quarantine as the number of coronavirus cases among students and staff rose to 137 since classes started a month ago. In a statement, the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry in Redding, California, said off-campus housing has been a primary source of transmission, along with “social interactions outside of school hours.” (Gecker, 10/7)

Politico: California School Districts Spurn 'Back-Patting' Trump Food Box Letter
The superintendent of the nation’s second largest school district on Wednesday accused President Donald Trump's administration of possibly violating the Hatch Act by inserting a letter in food boxes for distribution at schools and pantries just weeks before Election Day. Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner said that the district, which enrolls more than 600,000 students, will not include a “back-patting” letter from Trump inside of food boxes that are part of the Agriculture Department’s Farmers to Families Program. The program redirects meat, dairy and produce to low-income families instead of the restaurants and other food-service businesses that normally receive them. (Mays, 10/7)

In news from the Northeast —

CBS News: Protesters Burn Masks In Brooklyn Coronavirus Hotspot Over Cuomo's Crackdown On Religious Gatherings 
Hundreds of members of the Orthodox Jewish community in several Brooklyn neighborhoods took to the streets overnight on Tuesday to protest New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's new coronavirus restrictions. At a large protest in Borough Park, a crowd started a fire in the street after midnight, burning masks and chanting, "Jewish lives matter." (Lewis, 10/7)

Newsweek: New Hampshire Church Linked To COVID Outbreak After 10 Day Prayer Session
Health officials in New Hampshire are investigating a potential coronavirus outbreak linked to a church, after over half a dozen people tested positive for the virus. Seven people who went to events hosted by Gate City Church in the southern New Hampshire city of Nashua, Hillsborough county, tested positive for the coronavirus, ABC affiliate WMUR9 reported on Wednesday citing the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). (Gander, 10/8)

CNN: Vermont Battling Covid-19 At An Apple Orchard Among Migrant Workers
Vermont is battling a Covid-19 outbreak among migrant workers at an apple orchard, state officials announced Monday. Champlain Orchards in Addison County had 27 workers test positive over the weekend, Vermont Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine said on Tuesday. The commissioner had previously announced 26 cases, with one more test result being reported after the initial announcement. (Sturia and Kim, 10/6)

KQED: ICE Misusing Solitary Confinement For COVID-19 Quarantine, Detainees Say
As COVID-19 sickened dozens of people at a for-profit immigration detention center in Bakersfield this summer, staffers put Edmondson in isolation for weeks, including placing him in a cell used for disciplinary segregation that detainees call “the hole,” court records show. ICE officials said Edmondson, who repeatedly tested negative for the coronavirus, was being quarantined and housed apart from other detainees for his own protection. (Romero, 10/6)

In news from the South and Mid-Atlantic —

The Washington Post: Firings Of Therapists Who Alleged Wrongdoing Left Abused Children Without Treatment
A nonprofit group that is paid nearly $1 million a year by Montgomery County to provide counseling and medical care to abused children has been accused of inflating the number of patients it serves and failing to protect their personal information. Three psychologists and a social worker who raised concerns about the Rockville-based Tree House organization say they were abruptly fired soon afterward, leaving dozens of vulnerable children without the therapists they had grown to trust. (Chason and Tan, 10/7)

North Carolina Health News: Second Prison COVID Wave Delays Visits 
A week before visitations were slated to reopen at Greene Correctional Institution, a state prison in eastern North Carolina, officials announced Julia’s worst fear: The novel coronavirus had struck the facility — again. “I’m broken-hearted,” said Julia, whose boyfriend is incarcerated inside and requested North Carolina Health News use a pseudonym out of fear of retaliation by the prison system, on Sept. 30. “We haven’t seen each other in eight months.” (Critchfield, 10/8)

AP: West Virginia City Declares Racism A Public Health Crisis
Officials in a northern West Virginia city have unanimously approved a resolution declaring racism a health crisis. Social justice movements across the nation helped spark Tuesday’s vote by the Wheeling City Council, which appears to be among the first in the state, news outlets reported. (10/7)

Georgia Health News: National Poll Highlights Perils Of COVID-19 In Rural Georgia
Many rural households are struggling with access to health care and financial problems during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a national poll released Wednesday. The poll of more than 500 adults living in rural areas found that one in four of these families said they had a member unable to get medical care for a serious problem during the pandemic. And most families with these access-to-care problems reported negative health effects as a result. (Miller, 10/7)

AP: 2 Million Stillbirths Every Year, Pandemic Might Worsen Toll
The World Health Organization, UNICEF and partners said there are about 2 million stillbirths every year, mostly in the developing world, according to the first-ever global estimates published Thursday. The U.N. health agency said that last year three of every four stillbirths occurred in sub-Saharan Africa or Southern Asia. It defined a stillbirth as a baby born with no signs of life at 28 weeks of pregnancy or later. (10/7)

AP: Italy Imposes Mask Mandate Outside And In As Virus Rebounds
Italy imposed a nationwide outdoor mask mandate Wednesday with fines of up to 1,000 euros ($1,163) for violators, as the European country where COVID-19 first hit hard scrambles to keep rebounding infections from spiraling out of control. (Winfield, 10/7)

AP: Germany, Which Had Virus Under Control, Sees A Jump In Cases
Germany is seeing a sharp jump in new coronavirus infections, a development that is raising fears the pandemic is picking up pace in a country that so far has coped better than many of its European neighbors. The country’s disease control agency, the Robert Koch Institute, on Thursday reported 4,058 new infections and 16 deaths over the past 24 hours, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 310,144, with 9,578 deaths. That death toll is one-fourth of Britain’s and one-third of the confirmed virus toll in Italy. (10/8)

CIDRAP: Study: HIV Drug Of No Benefit To Hospitalized COVID Patients 
The combination drug lopinavir-ritonavir is not recommended for hospitalized COVID-19 patients because it doesn't significantly shorten hospital stay or lower the risk of needing mechanical ventilation or of dying, according to a study yesterday in The Lancet. The ongoing University of Oxford–sponsored Randomised Evaluation of COVid-19 thERapY (RECOVERY) trial involving coronavirus patients at 176 hospitals in the United Kingdom is the first known large, randomized, controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of lopinavir-ritonavir for this indication. (Van Beusekom, 10/6)

CIDRAP: Women More Likely To Embrace COVID-19 Prevention Behaviors
A report in Behavioral Science & Policy finds that women are more likely than men to embrace preventive public health practices, including physical distancing, mask wearing and hand hygiene, to combat COVID-19.  The report details the findings of three studies showing gender differences in pandemic-related behavior during the peak period of the pandemic in the United States: an 800-participant online survey of public health behaviors, an observational study of mask wearing among 300 pedestrians in three large metro areas, and a county-level analysis of movement using anonymous cell phone data from 15 million users nationwide. (10/6)

Nature: Face Masks: What The Data Say
The science supports that face coverings are saving lives during the coronavirus pandemic, and yet the debate trundles on. How much evidence is enough? The science supports that face coverings are saving lives during the coronavirus pandemic, and yet the debate trundles on. How much evidence is enough? (Peeples, 10/6)

CIDRAP: CARB-X To Fund Development Of Novel Antibacterial For Pneumonia
CARB-X announced today that it is awarding up to $2.5 million to GangaGen Biotechnologies of Bangalore, India, to develop novel antibacterial proteins to treat hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated pneumonia caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae. The money will fund preclinical development of klebicins, which are naturally occurring protein antibiotics that have shown potent activity against K pneumoniae in in vivo studies. Klebicins specifically target and kill K pneumoniae without harming beneficial bacteria in the microbiome. (10/5)

New England Journal of Medicine: A Randomized Trial Comparing Antibiotics With Appendectomy For Appendicitis
Antibiotic therapy has been proposed as an alternative to surgery for the treatment of appendicitis. METHODS: We conducted a pragmatic, nonblinded, noninferiority, randomized trial comparing antibiotic therapy (10-day course) with appendectomy in patients with appendicitis at 25 U.S. centers. The primary outcome was 30-day health status, as assessed with the European Quality of Life–5 Dimensions (EQ-5D) questionnaire (scores range from 0 to 1, with higher scores indicating better health status; noninferiority margin, 0.05 points). Secondary outcomes included appendectomy in the antibiotics group and complications through 90 days; analyses were prespecified in subgroups defined according to the presence or absence of an appendicolith. (10/1)

The Lancet: Real-World Long-Term Outcomes In Individuals At Clinical Risk For Psychosis: The Case For Extending Duration Of Care
Most services for individuals at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis (CHR-P) provide short-term clinical care. This study determines the real-world and long-term clinical outcomes beyond transition to psychosis in a large cohort of CHR-P individuals. (Fusar-Poli et al, 10/7)

New England Journal of Medicine: Atezolizumab For First-Line Treatment Of PD-L1–Selected Patients With NSCLC 
The efficacy and safety of the anti–programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) monoclonal antibody atezolizumab, as compared with those of platinum-based chemotherapy, as first-line treatment for patients with metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with PD-L1 expression are not known. (Herbst et al, 10/1)

Stat: A Mumps Epidemic Has A Lot To Teach Colleges About Reopening Safely In The Time Of Coronavirus 
Mumps tore through the Harvard University campus in the spring of 2016. As a reportable disease that has been relatively manageable since a vaccine was approved in 1967, mumps serves as a warning of how viruses can spread rapidly — and in unexpected ways — with lessons for understanding SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. (Pardis Sabeti and Yolanda Botti-Lodovico, 10/8)

The New York Times: My Patients Can’t Take Trump’s Advice
Imagine wanting, needing, to take a gulp of air and finding that you can’t. On Monday, a patient walked into the emergency room where I work. He struggled to breathe as he explained his symptoms to me. When the test result came back positive for the coronavirus, his eyes brimmed, and he spoke quietly: “Will I be OK?” I see some version of this story every day at my hospital in rural west Michigan. It’s some 700 miles away from the White House, and feels even farther as I watch President Trump whisked to the hospital and back in helicopters, and flanked by men in white lab coats, ready to serve him. And yet he tweets, “Don’t be afraid of Covid.” (Rob Davidson, 10/7)

CNN: My Father Died From Covid-19. Trump Just Spit On His Grave 
Donald Trump is infected with coronavirus -- and because of it we are sicker. "Don't be afraid of Covid. Don't let it dominate your life," he tweeted on Monday before Marine One flew him from the Walter Reed hospital back to the White House. Some 211,000 souls and counting are lost, but their loved ones are asked to go away quietly and to bury their pain and truth because the show must go on. (Chris Pernell, 10/7)

Fox News: Why Trump's COVID Experience Could Completely Change The Trajectory Of The 2020 Campaign
A Wall Street Journal editorial had it right: "The shame is that America's media have peddled the fiction that every new COVID case represents a failure of policy. Their line now is that Mr. Trump's infection is karma because he didn't take the disease seriously enough. In remarks Friday, Joe Biden also came close to indulging the karma explanation, while disclaiming partisanship." If he fully recovers -- and everyone with an ounce of goodwill for a fellow human being should hope he does -- he should not engage in triumphalism, as if he is Superman, but share with the nation what he has learned from the experience and what the country can also learn. (Cal Thomas, 10/7)

The Washington Post: Pence Ably Defended Trump In A Way That Few, Including Trump, Have Managed To Do
HILLSBORO, Ohio — After Wednesday’s vice-presidential debate, Trump-Pence campaign officials must be asking if there is some way they can arrange for Vice President Pence instead of President Trump to debate Joe Biden next week. As he did four years ago, Trump’s vice president again demonstrated his poise, knowledge and preparedness in his matchup with Sen. Kamala D. Harris (Calif.), the Democratic vice-presidential nominee. The big topic of the night was, of course, the novel coronavirus, and Pence had the advantage of his experience leading the administration’s coronavirus task force. He did more in a few minutes Wednesday to rebut criticisms of how the virus has been handled than all other administration officials combined have managed to do in the past eight months. (Gary Abernathy, 10/7)

The Washington Post: Mike Pence Should Have Self-Quarantined Instead Of Debating Kamala Harris
After all the hubbub over the plexiglass dividers placed between Vice President Pence and Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala D. Harris (Calif.), it turned out that Pence would have been wise to duck out altogether. Pence looked uncomfortable at times and frequently interrupted Harris, as if he had forgotten how such conduct went when Trump tried it last week. His voice droned on; he was so inanimate that at one point, a fly landed on his head. (Some commentators also noted one of his eyes looked red.) Just hours before the debate, President Trump declared on another video that his contracting covid-19 was “a blessing from God,” a cruel insult to the 211,000 people who have died and to their grieving families. (Jennifer Rubin, 10/7)

Stat: How A Nonfinancial Conflict Of Interest Can Threaten Public Health
So-called black box warnings on prescription medications are supposed to alert people to the possibility that using the medication can cause serious or life-threatening events. They often, but not always, do this well. (Stephen Soumerai and Ross Koppel, 10/7)

The New York Times: Capitalism Is Broken. The Fix Begins With A Free Covid-19 Vaccine.
The only way to end the pandemic is to develop a Covid-19 vaccine and make it available for free to every person in the world. To achieve this, the public sector needs to shape the drug-innovation process: steering innovation, getting fair prices, preserving supplies, ensuring that patents and competition work effectively and using collective intelligence for a positive impact on public health. This is the intent behind the World Health Organization’s call for a patent pool. (Mariana Mazzucato, 10/8)

Los Angeles Times: Politics And Public Acceptance Of A COVID-19 Vaccine 
The key to defeating the COVID-19 pandemic may have less to do with vaccine science and logistics and more to do with public trust. Week after week, actions by Trump administration appointees have raised suspicions that political motives rather than science are driving decision-making in the development of the vaccine. Events like these have shaken my faith — and the faith of many others — in two of the country’s most revered scientific institutions, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which collects and analyzes healthcare data, and the Food and Drug Administration, which approves diagnostic tests and treatments. (Harvey Klein, 10/8)

The Washington Post: I Couldn't Sit Idly And Watch People Die From Trump's Chaotic, Politicized Pandemic Response, So I Resigned
Rick Bright, an immunologist and vaccine researcher, is the former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. Of all the tools required for an effective U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic, one that is sorely missing is the truth. Public health guidance on the pandemic response, drafted by career scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has been repeatedly overruled by political staff appointed by the Trump administration. Career scientists throughout the Department of Health and Human Services hesitate to push back when science runs counter to the administration’s unrealistically optimistic pronouncements. Public health and safety have been jeopardized by the administration’s hostility to the truth and by its politicization of the pandemic response, undoubtedly leading to tens of thousands of preventable deaths. For that reason, and because the administration has in effect barred me from working to fight the pandemic, I resigned on Tuesday from the National Institutes of Health. (Rick Bright, 10/7)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: When Doctors Allow Trump To Dictate Their Science, Lies Become Infectious
Since the Vietnam era, Donald Trump has used medical professionals to bend the truth and compromise their professional ethics in order to do their patient’s bidding. The openly misleading and evasive information by White House physician Dr. Sean Conley was so egregious on Saturday that even White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows felt it necessary to correct the record. Yet Conley continues to detour around the facts rather than give Americans a straightforward picture of the president’s health. Lying to the American public serves no one’s interests other than Trump’s. Yet Conley’s behavior is par for the course. (10/7)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Coronavirus Cases Rise Fast In Wisconsin As The Legislature Dithers.
Mandate face masks. Close or limit numbers in bars. Limit seats in restaurants. Republicans in other states have taken strong action when faced with rising coronavirus cases. But in Wisconsin, Republicans who control the Legislature instead run to court to overturn an order by Gov. Tony Evers mandating face masks in public spaces.  Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald have offered NO plan of their own to fight the deadly virus. (10/6)

The New York Times: New York Needs The Faithful To Help Stop The Coronavirus 
A growing coronavirus outbreak in several Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods is the most serious public health emergency New York City has faced since the spring, when the virus claimed more than 20,000 lives. Serious outbreaks are now occurring in some of New York’s Hasidic and other ultra-Orthodox communities. Within these insular communities, built by Holocaust survivors from Europe, trust in the city government is often minimal — which can make it a challenge to enforce mask mandates and social distancing rules. (10/7)

Indianapolis Star: Hunger Disproportionately Hits Children Of Color. People Of Faith Must Stand Up.
According to the Children’s Defense Fund, “nearly 1 in 6 children were poor in America in 2018. Seventy-three percent were children of color, and more than 2 in 3 live with at least one working family member. Mothers and fathers are working and still cannot provide adequately for their children.” In my home state of Indiana, over 108,900 children under 18 were uninsured as of 2018. Over 18,400 enrolled in public schools are homeless, and 85 percent of children who received free or reduced lunch in the school year 2017-18 did not participate in summer nutrition programs. (Julius C. Trimble, 10/8)

South Florida Sun Sentinel: During The Debate, President Trump Said He’s ‘Cutting Drug Prices.’ He’s Not.
Trump proudly spoke of a recently released Executive Order that would peg drug prices for Medicare recipients to a “most-favored nation-price” — or the lowest price that a drug is sold in developed countries. This policy is unlikely to do much, especially not lowering drug prices by the “80 or 90%” he insists. Instead, such an order could actually lead to higher prices in other developed countries. And it would exclude the majority of American patients – over 150 million – not covered by Medicare. (Dr. Reshma Ramachandran, 10/6)

The Hill: The Harm In Mask Jokes 
Influential political commentator and former television host Tomi Lahren recently tweeted a joke about presidential nominee Joe Biden, writing, “Might as well carry a purse with that mask, Joe.” Her reasoning for doing so isn’t hard to unravel. As a conservative publicist, she hopes to make Biden look weak, unmanly and wimpy. Biden frequently spotted wearing a mask in public, has been an advocate for widespread mask usage. (Aaron B. Rochlen, 10/7)